He was always happy, said his mother, Margie Steury.
There were few foods he did not like, added his father and namesake, Michael
Steury. And recently learning how to crawl, Michael was exploring the world
around him, including his 18-month-old sister's things.

"He always wanted to get her toys," Margie Steury said of
Michael and his older sister, Marietta. "They were just really starting to play
with each other.

"Usually when they woke up, they had to give each other
big hugs."

Michael died Tuesday after a minivan rear-ended the
Steurys' horse-drawn buggy on Montgomery Road in southern Hillsdale County's
Camden Township. Both the minivan and buggy were west on Montgomery Road near
Camden-Frontier High School. The buggy flipped, throwing the Steurys from it.
Michael, Margie and Marietta had minor injuries, were treated and released.
Michael Jr. was flown from the scene to St. Vincent's Hospital in Toledo, Ohio.
Doctors there tried to revive him but could not.

On Wednesday afternoon, Michael and Margie Steury sat in
a dark room surrounded by family at her parents' house on Burt Road. Jonas and
Mary Graber, Margie Steury's parents, sat next to her. Sam and Naomi Steury,
Michael Steury's parents, were nearby. Outside, several children played on a
wagon and throughout the yard. Marietta was one of them, running around like
any 18-month-old should.

Michael Steury was still a bit sore and had an ice pack
behind his head. His wife's left arm was in a sling. Doctors do not think
anything was broken, but she is in a lot of pain.

There are hundreds of Steurys and Grabers in the
community, Jonas Graber said. On Wednesday, the women, even the young girls,
wore dark dress, most in black, with white bonnets. The men matched in dark
clothing, most in blue shirts and black pants. A row of hats sat on the counter
just inside the door. Those inside sat quietly, some silently crying into
clenched fists.

Around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, the Steurys were
on their way to the Grabers' Burt Road farm. Margie and Michael Steury rarely
drive their buggy on Montgomery Road, but it was the easiest way to travel from
the fields where Michael Steury had been mowing hay that day.

Michael Steury was holding Marietta and driving. Margie
Steury held little Michael. He was hungry, and his mother had just rested his
head on her shoulder. She patted his back, she said. Shortly before the crash,
Michael Steury tickled his son's chin.

No one realized there was a minivan behind him. Suddenly
there was solid bump. The horse spooked, and Michael Steury lost hold of the
reins. He and Marietta tumbled off the seat and onto the buggy floor. The horse
veered off the road and into a ditch. The buggy flipped and landed in Allen
Asher's front yard, 4720 Montgomery Road.

Still holding Marietta and trapped underneath, Michael
Steury held up the buggy until his wife escaped. She no longer had Michael Jr.
and does not know when she lost hold of her son. Michael Steury ran to his son
and picked him up. He was not breathing.

"I blew into his mouth a couple of times," Michael Steury
said. Both he and Margie Steury could hear their son take shallow, raspy
breaths.

Asher and his brother, Robert Asher, watched the crash
happen from the side porch of the house. They heard the horse approaching and
saw the minivan coming up close behind it. The minivan appeared to be speeding,
they said. It did not try to stop or avoid the buggy, they said. There were no skid
marks left on the road.

The brothers ran to the overturned buggy to help. Michael
Steury was sitting on the front steps of the house cradling his son and crying,
Allen Asher said. Robert Asher brought out water and damp rags. He unhooked the
horse from the buggy and led him to the back of the house to a bucket of water.
They wished there was more they could do.

"It was people, bodies, a horse, lying out there," Allen
Asher said. "I about lost it."

"I prayed last night," Robert Asher added.

Johns told police she saw the buggy ahead of her, but did
not have time to stop when the buggy came to a halt in the road. Michael and
Margie Steury said their horse never slowed while riding down the road. The
crash is still under investigation.

Allen Asher said two or three buggies pass by his house a
day. He has lived on Montgomery Road for nearly 20 years and said cars and
buggies, for the most part, share it.

"Most of the Amish are very careful drivers," Allen Asher
said.

Amish farms dot the southeastern corner of Hillsdale
County. Etched into the area's dirt roads are thin buggy tracks leading from
farm to farm. Some businesses in Camden, Jonesville and Hillsdale have parking
spots set aside for horse and buggies.

Since 2004, there have been 15 reported crashes involving
buggies, according to Michigan State Police records. Many of them happened in
Camden Township. Tuesday's crash was the second in a week. On May 23, a buggy
was rear-ended at the top of hill early in the morning on Reading Road near Gilmore
Road.

The Amish have added lights and reflectors to their
buggies to make them more visible. They have battery-operated headlights and
taillights, reflective tape and an orange or amber strobe attached to the rear.
But unlike other Amish areas of the state, yellow warning signs alerting
motorists to horse-drawn buggies do not stand along Hillsdale County's roads.
Jonas Graber and others in the Amish community have brought the lack of signs
to the county's attention.

"We even offered to buy them and put them up on our own,"
Jonas Graber said of the signs. "We've asked for them several times."

The county's road commission, however, refused, Graber
said. Stan Clingerman, the road commission's engineer and manager, said about
12 years ago, members of the Amish community approached the county about the
signs, offering to pay for them. The road commissioners agreed but added the
condition that the Amish must attach a slow-moving vehicle sign, the orange
triangle state law requires is displayed on all farm vehicles, to their
buggies, Clingerman said.

For members of the Amish community, this conflicts with
religious beliefs. The Amish walked out of that meeting 12 years ago, and the
issue of signs has not been brought up since, Clingerman said. Jonas Graber
said members of the Amish community and some in county government do not see
eye to eye on a few issues. He did not discuss it further.

Michael Steury thinks signs would help remind motorists
of the buggies in the area but does not know if they would have helped in
Tuesday's crash. It was a clear day with nothing obstructing the driver's view
of the buggy.

"We were just trotting along," Michael Steury said.

"I guess anyone can make a mistake," added Jonas Graber.

A service for Michael Steury Jr. will be Friday at the
Grabers' farm. Family and friends are invited.